Options before internship

[affectiveH3art]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Hi everyone! So I'm contemplating possible options before going off to internship (applying next cycle). Does it reflect negatively if I'm not in a practicums? I'm thinking of just working in surgery for 40 hours while finishing my dissertation on the weekends. I'm a little burned out considering I had a family situation recently in which I was homeless due to a massive pipe bursting and flooding my large home. Mind you this was not a mere little leak, this was thousands of gallons of water rushing into my home in minutes causing extensive damage to my home and items. The program has not been very supportive and so I'm looking at various options for next academic year. A little background- counseling psych phd program, looking at health psych positions for internship, about 650 f2f hours and 100 ish for assessment and a single mom of two toddlers. Any feedback is appreciated!


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile app

 

[Kadhir]

I'm thinking of just working in surgery for 40 hours while finishing my dissertation on the weekends.

Haha, I'm going to chalk that up the autocorrect. 🙂

I'm sorry to hear about your home. Diss is important, so your head is in the right place. Internship apps/interviews are an enormous time commitment, so if you feel well-prepared, I don't think a practicum is critical. Just be prepared to explain how you are spending your time. I picked up a few assessment cases through the dept. clinic just to keep my skills sharp. You could look into something similar.

 

[affectiveH3art]

That's where I'm in a dilemma because I can do assessment next year and get paid for prac... but I'm burned out by my cohort's negative attitudes toward me and lack of support by faculty


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile app

 

[researchgirl]

It sounds like you have sufficient hours of practicum; do you feel that you have sufficient depth and breadth in your clinical experiences to be competitive for internship?

I know of some people who have successfully matched after not doing clinical practicum during the year they applied to internship - so I think in general, it can work out just fine, assuming the quality of your experiences make you competitive for a health psychology internship.

 

[WisNeuro]

The assessment seems a tad low, but I may be biased. It'd depend on what those hours entail.

 

[Lola917]

Hi everyone! So I'm contemplating possible options before going off to internship (applying next cycle). Does it reflect negatively if I'm not in a practicums? I'm thinking of just working in surgery for 40 hours while finishing my dissertation on the weekends. I'm a little burned out considering I had a family situation recently in which I was homeless due to a massive pipe bursting and flooding my large home. Mind you this was not a mere little leak, this was thousands of gallons of water rushing into my home in minutes causing extensive damage to my home and items. The program has not been very supportive and so I'm looking at various options for next academic year. A little background- counseling psych phd program, looking at health psych positions for internship, about 650 f2f hours and 100 ish for assessment and a single mom of two toddlers. Any feedback is appreciated!


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile app

In your case I think not being in a practicum may reflect negatively due to your low hours. Since both your f2f and assessment hours are average/below average, it would probably be best to get another practicum to bump your hours. If your school allows it, you can also get a supplemental practicum to at least get your assessment hours up, this would also allow you to work.

Things happen to all of us and no matter the situation or how burned out we are, we don't want our internship application getting tossed before we even get a chance to explain ourselves during interviews.

I'm in a clinical psych phd program and I did not complete a practicum the year I applied for internship, I decided I had enough hours (850 f2f, 250 assessment) so I wanted to get a job in the field instead. I submitted my internship application with only my last practicum listed on my CV (as I took the summer off and did not to start working until shortly after internship applications were submitted). I had 8 interviews and only 1 site asked what I was currently doing. All the other sites focused on my past practicum and professional experience. I got lucky in a sense that I did not have to elaborate on my current job, which is only kind-of in the field (minimally), and more on a systems level with zero direct patient care. While I did match at my first choice, I went to all of my interviews with the added stress of how I was going to "spin" what I'm currently doing to make it sound like I'm still in the field and not just getting paid$ while waiting for internship to start. Thankfully, my prior jobs and practicums were interesting enough that it took up all of the interview time, but I would not recommend taking that risk. If you are strongly considering not doing a practicum, then I would recommend getting a job in the field that would impress your interviewers, just in case they ask!

 

[researchgirl]

I must be really out of touch with what is an acceptable number of hours if 650 is considered low. I'll grant you that 100 assessment hours is low "ish", but for a health psychology internship I do not think it would raise any eyebrows or impact your interview chances whatsoever to have those numbers.

 

[erg923]

I must be really out of touch with what is an acceptable number of hours if 650 is considered low. I'll grant you that 100 assessment hours is low "ish", but for a health psychology internship I do not think it would raise any eyebrows or impact your interview chances whatsoever to have those numbers.

650 is really barely over the bare minimum line for most internship sites.

 

[researchgirl]

650 is really barely over the bare minimum line for most internship sites.

This was definitely not what we were told as students in my program not too many years ago, and is also not what is used at the site where I am an internship supervisor/review applications.

 

[erg923]

I think 500 is our minimum. whats yours?

Most application we review I think have about 800-1000 hours

 

[researchgirl]

We don't have formal minimum hours requirements as a part of our review process for the track I supervise, though I think less than 500 would raise some questions for me.

 

[WisNeuro]

500 has been the bare minimum at my last two training sites as a faculty, and as well as my postdoc site, all VAs. Most applicants were above 800.

 

[smalltownpsych]

From the 2015 APPIC survey:
a. INTERVENTION: Doctoral Hours Median = 602 N = 1989
Mean = 666 SD = 311
b. INTERVENTION: Terminal Masters Hours Median = 0 N = 1279
Mean = 123 SD = 269
c. INTERVENTION: Total Completed Hours Median = 650 N = 1817
Mean = 742 SD = 393
d. ASSESSMENT: Doctoral Hours Median = 164 N = 1972
Mean = 216 SD = 189
e. ASSESSMENT: Terminal Masters Hours Median = 0 N = 1270
Mean = 18 SD = 88
f. ASSESSMENT: Total Completed Hours Median = 170 N = 1818
Mean = 234 SD = 237
https://www.appic.org/Match/MatchStatistics/ApplicantSurvey2015Part1.aspx

 

[affectiveH3art]

I'll clarify, 650 not counting this semester, so about 750-800 ish. I haven't counted up this semester.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile app

 

[affectiveH3art]

Good to know people's experience! Kadhir- autocorrect? Nope, I was thinking of working in surgery. Previous work history is surgical tech and dental anesthesia assistant.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile app

 

[Kadhir]

Good to know, how interesting. Go- make that money!

My experience mirrors that of @researchgirl . We were told 500 minimum, but this has been tacitly updated among program applicants as competition has grown. My hours would be considered pretty low given some of the comments above, but I received interviews at a couple places where I was below their stated minimums. Depends on track, the quality of your experiences, and about 15 other things, as usual.

What do other folks in your program have, and have they matched at the type of places you want to go? If so, you're probably fine.

 

[affectiveH3art]

Well I'm the black sheep of the group since most if not all match to UCC's. They tend to match to excellent UCC's (e.g. Duke, Stanford, UC Irvine etc). This year we had someone match to An Airforce site and get interviews at VA's. But it is good to know that the hour "minimum" truly is not average. I have a great position for next year with assessment that is very flexible. I just wanted to regroup and missed surgery. It seems to keep on working at my paid practicums would be beneficial though to gain more hours. Especially given I don't have a high amount of assessment hours. On a side note, does anyone know if internship sites include assessment hours after applying? Some ask for up to 250 hours but do not specify if that needs to be BEFORE internship starts or at the time of application.

Thanks! I appreciate hearing people's perspectives.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile app

 

[eremitestar]

On a side note, does anyone know if internship sites include assessment hours after applying? Some ask for up to 250 hours but do not specify if that needs to be BEFORE internship starts or at the time of application.

It's not likely. When you fill out your application, it's very clear that you can only include hours up to a certain date. There is a section for predicted future hours, but sites don't seem to put much stock in those since they're not guaranteed.

 

[affectiveH3art]

It's not likely. When you fill out your application, it's very clear that you can only include hours up to a certain date. There is a section for predicted future hours, but sites don't seem to put much stock in those since they're not guaranteed.

So then continuing to gain assessment hours would not benefit me if it's up to the date of application. This is where I am in a dilemma once again. I believe the same applies for face to face hours, is that correct?


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile app

 

[WisNeuro]

It's not likely. When you fill out your application, it's very clear that you can only include hours up to a certain date. There is a section for predicted future hours, but sites don't seem to put much stock in those since they're not guaranteed.

I would not say this is necessarily true. We ask about this all of the time, and it is commonly brought up in interview/ranking meetings.

 

[psyche27]

On a side note, does anyone know if internship sites include assessment hours after applying? Some ask for up to 250 hours but do not specify if that needs to be BEFORE internship starts or at the time of application.

At my site if the hour requirement isn't met at time of application then that application is cut in the first round of reviews. However, if the hour requirement is met, we might look at your expected practicum hours to see if you're gaining more experience in areas we value.

 

[affectiveH3art]

At my site if the hour requirement isn't met at time of application then that application is cut in the first round of reviews. However, if the hour requirement is met, we might look at your expected practicum hours to see if you're gaining more experience in areas we value.

Good to know, what type of site?


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile app

 

[psyche27]

Good to know, what type of site?

UCC

 

[eremitestar]

I would not say this is necessarily true. We ask about this all of the time, and it is commonly brought up in interview/ranking meetings.

Sure, but the places I've been you likely wouldn't get to the interview stage if your numbers were well below the cutoff. If you're banking on those projected hours to get you above minimum requirements, you might be out of luck.

 

[WisNeuro]

Sure, but the places I've been you likely wouldn't get to the interview stage if your numbers were well below the cutoff. If you're banking on those projected hours to get you above minimum requirements, you might be out of luck.

Of course, if the numbers only get you to just the cutoff, you don't have a great chance. Not because of the projected numbers, but because of your low standing compared to the field of applicants. Anticipated numbers matter, but only in the context of overall numbers and quality of experience.

 

[affectiveH3art]

Well I'm not too concerned with intervention hours, it's mostly assessment. I only have 2 or 3 that require more than 100, so I'm not depending on projected hours too much. Most of the sites I'm applying to require about 100 assessment but are quite competitive. I would like to step back from working in a prac but from the sound of it, maybe it would beneficial to continue for the last year. I definitely don't want to apply for UCC's and would like to apply for hospital settings. I have my heart set on a burn unit for at least 50% of the internship but those sites are super competitive (e.g. UCSD & University of Washington/Harborview)


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile app